Sounds like Qadhafi has nothing left to fly. The point is that the U.N. Security Council resolution calls for it, and maintaining one against a toothless enemy is a good way to grow a coalition – which now includes 13 nations – for an international humanitarian operation with a low cost of entry. Even distant Qatar, for example, will have its four F-16s available to patrol over Libya by this weekend, Locklear said. So although the U.S. and its allies have portrayed the no-fly zone as a military necessity, it’s actually a diplomatic one – it’s a way to pull in as many nations as possible to permit the U.S. to quickly minimize its role in the Libyan intervention.

Qatar – and Denmark, and Canada, and Italy, and Belgium, and all the others – may never fire a shot in enforcing this humanitarian operation, but now they’re all tied to the fate of Libya, which is exactly what the White House wanted. That doesn’t resolve the future of Qadhafi or the rebels, but it does give the U.S. a way to slip back into the chorus after its big opening number. Whatever happens in the next act of this show, everyone will be in it together, the president hopes. POLITICO’s Morning Defense